Judge awards Epic $4.45 Million

After a five year court battle over Unreal Engine 3, a judge has awarded Epic Games $4.45 Million. Sources have told the Escapist magazine that Human developer Silicon Knights will have to pay Epic Games $4.45 million in damages.

Silicon Knights hoped to make $54 million from suing Epic. Instead it owes them a lot of cash. The ruling followed two recent case milestones, neither of which had foreshadowed much hope for Silicon Knights.

Last week, the court ruled that due to an invalid expert testimony, no claim against Epic could be awarded more than a dollar in recompense. All claims of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, unfair competition, and unfair and deceptive trade practices previously levied were dismissed outright.

Epic remained tight-lipped regarding the specifics of its counterclaims since the announcement of their filing in 2007. Most of the claims centered around copyright infringement of the Unreal Engine 3's code.

Silicon Knights' initial lawsuit depended on the fact that Epic had misrepresented the engine, forcing it's developers to build a better one from scratch. Epic claimed that during this time, Silicon Knights had full access to the Unreal Engine 3's code, and may have infringed upon it while reconstructing the core of Too Human. It looks like the Judge believed them.